Life is good

I must say that life is good. I was making dinner last night by myself in the kitchen. There weren't any crying hungry kids hanging on my pants or running around the kitchen. Chris had both boys downstairs playing with the train. I decided that I making dinner isn't so bad under those circumstances. I was also very happy when Chris gave the boys a bath. I was able to clean up dinner and do dishes while the bath was taken care of. It has been a long time since that happened. It is great.

Here are some pictures that Chris' sister took last week. I wanted to share them. I am so glad someone finally got Isaac's smile on camera. He smiles all the time but just not in any picture that I take. And the other one is also a face that Eli makes quite often but I didn't have a picture of. I'm not so sure I want to remember as much.

He's Home

Chris came home today. We are all obviously so happy. He flew into the Salt Lake Air National Guard base about noon. It is so cool to see the plane pull up. There was a color guard from the VFW that held flags for them to walk throuh. Chris was one of the first off of the plane which was very nice. We got interviewed by a reporter from Fox 13 News. I am really hoping that it isn't on the news. I always said that I wouldn't talk to the reporters but of course when they ask you for an interview it is hard to say no.

We are all happy he is home. It is great to be together as a family again. Now we just have to wait and see what the future brings. I think he is happy to be home.

All four of us.

Eli trying to carry Chris' backpack. Whenever he tried to move he almost fell over because the pack was so heavy. It was pretty funny.

This is what we came home to. I had put up the little flags before we left but our neighbors and ward members put a lot more stuff out. It looks really great. There were several of them waiting for us to come home too. They all cheered and came over to shake Chris' hand and say thanks. We live in a great ward and neighborhood.

Happy 4th Birthday Eli!!!

Eli turned 4 today. It's kind of crazy that is getting so old. He is such a fun kid. He opened his presents first thing this morning and played with them the rest of the day. We also went to Krispie Kreme or "the donut store" as Eli calls it. He loves donuts and the last time he went there he got to watch them making the donuts which he loved. Unfortunately they weren't making any today but he still got to eat a donut which made him happy. Here are a few things about Eli.

• He is 43 inches tall and 43 lbs.
• He loves trains lately and plays with them all the time.
• His best friend is also named Elijah. He loves to play at his house. He tells me all the time that he wants to live at Elijah's house.
• He loves books. He will sit and let you read to him for hours.
• He likes to play on the computer and watch movies.
• He loves to have visitors over. He says to me a few times a week, "Who is coming here today?" He likes all of the attention that others give him.

With his presents

This is his favorite present by far. He played with it pretty much all day today.

Here are a few pictures of Eli over the last 4 years.

The day after he was born.

His blessing day.

9 months old

2 years old

Thomas The Tank Engine

Yesterday as part of Eli's birthday celebrations we went up to Heber and rode Thomas who was at the Heber Valley Railroad. We met my sister Kate and her kids Joel and Anna, there. The boys were so excited to see Thomas and be able to ride on him. It was a lot of fun.

Eli after he got his James tattoo

All of the kids on the train.

Isaac was upset because he threw his binky off of the side of the train and we couldn't get it.

Eli was excited to see Sir Topham Hat. Sometimes he covers his mouth when he's happy or excited. Joel was a lot more excited than he looks in the picture. I promise we weren't forcing him to do it.

Kids these days...

Isaac loves to listen to my ipod. Whenever he sees me with it he has to have a turn. At first I thought this was a glance into the future but then realized that in 10 years when he is old enough to want an ipod he isn't going to want an ipod because I'm sure there will be something way better out by then. Ipods will be to him like cassette tapes are to me.

Eli and Sydney had a fun afternoon making newspaper hats and masks. Eli's hat looked like the pope's when it wasn't bent weird. They had fun and I took a nap while they were doing it.

Weekend Fun

We had a pretty fun weekend. Yesterday we went up to Temple Square to see my brother. His sister-in-law was getting married so he was in town from Denver. We went up to spend some time with him and his kids. Isaac wearing Auntie Emmy's glasses

Us at Temple Square

This was going to be just the kids but we needed some adults to keep some kids in the picture. It is my brother Kurt, who is holding his youngest Emma. Next to him are his other kids, Christian, Madeline and Savanna. Then my sister Emilee with Isaac and my niece Sydney and Eli. Eli really liked Sydney. She came down from Montana to go to the Stephanie Meyer book signing in Salt Lake on Friday night. That is all she wanted for her birthday.

Isaac coloring at the children's area of the Church History Museum.

Eli building a temple at the museum. The kids loved it there. It is a great place to take them if you have to wait at Temple Square. They don't have to be reverent and they can touch whatever they want.

Mother's Day

In honor of Mother's Day today I have three things that I want to share. The first is a cute poem that I found on a blog. The second is a comic from today's paper which more accurately expresses my feelings of motherhood most of the time. (If you can't read it click on the picture and it will get bigger.) And last is a movie of a "Mom Song" to the William Tell Overature. It's pretty good for those of you who haven't seen it before.

Little Boys
Little boys come in all shapes and sizes,
Shy and adventurous, full of surprises,
With misshapen halos and mischievous grins,
Small dirty faces, and sweet sticky chins.
They'll keep you so busy, and yet all the while
Nothing can brighten the world like their smile.
And no greater treasure has brought homes more joy
Than a curious, active and lovable boy!
-Author Unknown



This a link to the video on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM

Isaac Centric

I did a post all about Eli awhile ago so now I am going to do one about Isaac. Here are some pictures of him. As you can tell I can RARELY get a picture of him actually looking at the camera. He never wants to stop for that long.
This is his sign for drink. He knows a few signs. He learned please recently and it's very cute. He did it today without me reminding him because he wanted some fruit snacks.

This is after his first ice-cream cone. He was a mess. I don't know if you can tell but he has ice-cream all over his hair.

Playing in the back yard. He loves slides.

Finally looking at the camera. Isaac likes to put everything on his head. I was trying to get a picture of him putting his plate on his head but of course once I got the camera out he stopped doing it.

This is my little brother Sam. My Grandpa used to do this to all of his grand kids. My mom has a picture of each of my brothers and sisters being held like this by my grandpa. Of course by the time Isaac was born my grandpa was too weak to be able to hold him much at all let alone with one hand but it looks like Sam can carry on the tradition.

Isaac is:

• saying "Ma ma" and pointing to me when he says it. He will also walk around the house saying "Ma" looking for me. Other words he likes to say are ball, bubble, walk, water, bath, more and he will sign more, please, milk and drink.
• Isaac loves to wrestle. If anyone is laying on the floor, especially Eli, he will go right over and throw himself down on them. He thinks it's hilarious.
• He recently discovered his belly button. He finds his all the time and often tries to find other peoples. He tries to find Eli's a lot which Eli doesn't particularly enjoy most of the time.
• He sleeps a lot. He still takes two naps a day and goes to bed at 7 pm.
• He loves shoes, especially his red crocs. He will wear them all day. The other night I got him out of the bath and he put his shoes on. He was totally naked except for red crocs. He can put them on by himself and usually gets them on the right feet. He also tries to put everyone else's shoes on and he will put all shoes that aren't being warn in his closet.
• He has the best smile. When I smile at him he smiles back with this huge grin that just melts your heart. I have tried to get a picture of it but haven't been able to capture it. I will keep trying because I want to be able to remember that smile forever.
  

Another Week Down

I am always glad when the week ends because it means we are one week closer to Chris coming home. It is getting so close now I can feel it. I got an email from him today and he told me that their replacements finally got there. They had been held up in Kuwait because of a chicken pox outbreak but they have arrived and now Chris and his guys will start training them. It makes it more real that they will actually be home soon. He also told me that he got his promotion packet from the state and is now waiting for the federal one to go through. He will be a 1LT before he gets home which is exciting. I think the job is mostly the same but he will get paid more.

This has been a good week. We share a timeshare up at Snowbird with Chris's family this last week. I was able to leave the boys with Chris' mom and sister on Monday night and go up there all by myself. It was a nice break. I brought the boys up to swim on Tuesday and then last night we went up and spent the night. Eli was asking me on the way up there if he could ask the ski people if they could hook his skis up to my skis and then he could ski with me. Funny thing is I don't ski and we don't even have skis. I have not clue where that idea came from. He is quite a kid.

I got an email this week about my 10 year high school reunion. It is kind of crazy that it's been 10 year since I graduated from high school. I haven't decided if I'm going to go to the reunion or not. I think I'm leaning towards not going.

Have a happy day.

Playing in the yard

It was finally warm enough today to go outside and play. We ate our dinner outside on a blanket in the backyard and then played ball. It was a lot of fun. I have been waiting for years to be able to play catch with my kids and the time is finally here. Isaac playing T-ball

Eli was making this face because he missed the ball

Now he is making this face because he hit the ball and it hit me.

When it was time to go in Eli told me that they were tired and had to take a rest on the stairs.

Tulip Festival

We went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point last week with my sister Lindsey and her husband Dan. Unfortunately since it has been so stinking cold there were few tulips blooming. The boys were much more interested in the waterfalls anyway. This is the first time I had ever been to the gardens there. They are huge. We really only went in the "Mountain Garden" and then we were ready to eat dinner. Eli and Auntie Lindsey

Us in front of a waterfall

Eli by another waterfall

Dan helping Isaac smell some of the few tulips there were.

I love going places with Lindsey and Dan because they are way more fun than me so the boys like to be with them the whole time.